Spellbound
by Obsidian-Lullaby
Summary: She was the last, the final beacon of light in a world succumbed to darkness. Most will call it the end of the Shadow Age in coming centuries, the rebirth of Promethean fire among the diminishing stars, ignited again by the most unlikely love... the love between a unicorn and her savage beast. [THE LAST UNICORN AU / GOTHIC FANTASY]
1. Prologue

**SUMMARY:** She was the last, the final beacon of light in a world succumbed to darkness. Most will call it the end of the Shadow Age in coming centuries, the rebirth of Promethean fire among the diminishing stars, ignited again by the most unlikely love... the love between a unicorn and her savage beast.

 **STORY AESTHETIC INSPIRATIONS:** The Last Unicorn, Legend (1985), Adam Hurst, J. R. R. Tolkien, Adrian von Ziegler, Amy Brown, Peter Gundry, Lucas King and Luis Royo

 **SONG INSPIRATION(S):** Accursed Existence - Adrian von Ziegler / Tainted Heart - Adrian von Ziegler

 **OVERALL PROJECT** **WARNINGS:** explicit sexual content (eventually), gore, violent action sequences, mentions of past abuse and characters witnessing abuse

 **A/N:** I was not expecting this AU at all, but my muse doesn't take those things into consideration. This AU is based somewhat loosely on The Last Unicorn with quite a bit of liberties taken. Also, I'm not entirely used to writing in 3rd person past tense. I've mostly written in present tense for the last few years, so there will be mistakes.

 ****Updates for this project will be slow!****

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 _"End, begin, all the same. Big change. Sometimes good, sometimes bad."_

\- Aughra / The Dark Crystal

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 **SPELLBOUND**

 **PROLOGUE**

 **~ - . O . - ~**

It will be said that a man-turned-beast was saved by the most unlikely creature in the harrowing years of King Snoke's reign. A unicorn, the last unicorn. It might even be said that such a unicorn came to love this mortal fiend...

Could a thing truly happen?

Before his fall the quiet and reflective prince, Ben Solo, had known a life of tumult and building hostility. The war against the Empire had ended; the Rebellion claimed victory, though that seemed not to matter to either side. The vanquished threw themselves onto enemy swords where they found them, slit unsuspecting throats of Rebel soldiers when they could and tried for his own life on many an occasion.

He was the son of Princess Leia Organa, icon of the Rebellion and political lioness of the free peoples of the Republic, and Han Solo, notorious pirate turned war general for his princess' cause. Ben Solo was the son of prestige, of destiny.

One day the prince had found himself trapped within a mountain cave, captured by the terrifying immortal, Celaeno, harpy and fabled seer of The Great Clash of Swords, the war which had taken place thousands of years before his time. It was said that The Great Clash of Swords claimed so many lives the seas ran red with blood. This story terrified him as a child and he had suffered dreams, terrible dreams.

And there was a face in those dreams, too. It visited often, whispering to him from its pale, twisted mouth. Serpentine words. _Dangerous words_ , his mind had warned.

The harpy saw these dreams, flickers of dark and fire, like a candle in the shadows and she coaxed him to look into her cavernous gaze. At once he fell away, relaxing into the twisted roots which bound him. Celaeno first told him she had contemplated eating him, for his inward Eye carried great power; however, she hesitated. She had also looked into his future and saw the hell that was to follow him.

Intrigued by this she offered to play a game with the little lord. Three riddles, each answered correctly, and she would reward him three prophecies.

Ben Solo agreed.

The first two riddles he unraveled easily, answering them without pause, though the third proved much more difficult. He struggled, eyes distant with thought and brow furrowed, but after a time, he ground his teeth in frustration and glared at the stone floor.

This did not surprise the harpy as she sat watching him, her outer skin reflecting in the cold sunlight which filtered through the cave's entrance and her lips twisted in a demure smile. She marveled at him, enticed by the working of his shoulders as he breathed and his throat muscles as he swallowed. She considered very seriously licking him there. _He would no doubt taste like the smoke of his coming destruction_ , she mused offhandedly.

As for the third riddle...

It was a trick. There was no answer that could be given, at least not by any mortal other than Ben Solo himself and he could not know the answer. _Not yet._

She repeated the riddle once more, adding a final line that made the boy's breath catch in his throat:

 _"She is both innocent and wise,_

 _A daughter of moon and sunrise,_

 _Prideful, radiant and free,_

 _She is but one of many._

 _Though to you, dear prince, she is destiny."_

Ben Solo left the harpy with his three prophecies, confused and lost. They weighed heavily on his heart and, some years later, he fell willingly into the darkness promised.

Cities burned, blood was plenty and the sun turned a black lidless eye in the orange heavens, the fires of the cities seeming to catch in the clouds, razing all to ash and smoke. The ones who loved their prince fell to their knees, gnashing their teeth at the gods, desperate and driven mad with sorrow.

"Why?!" they demanded. "Why our prince?!"

Not long after this new darkness crept over the land, coiling up from the deep, secret places, Ben Solo remade himself under the tutelage of his new master, the wandering necromancer from beyond the Forest of Faces. It was said this sorcerer traveled the endless hardpan of the Pit all the way to the land of the Republic, all the way from the fabled Black Sea of the east, which no mortal had set eyes upon in centuries.

 _King Snoke. Murderer. Usurper. God._

The night Ben Solo died the dreaded demon, Kylo Ren, was born. He was a beast shrouded in darkness, a falling star willing to catch the whole world ablaze, bearing a massive sword that beat with a life of its own, like a dancing fire; pulsing, twittering, as if a naked heart.

King Snoke had no desire to conceal his pleasure as the prince knelt at his feet, eyes downcast.

It was after Kylo Ren attained his title, Master of the Knights of Ren, that King Snoke sent his eager pupil on his first real mission: capture every last unicorn of the realm and drive it into the sea.

"Fret not, my young apprentice. Vengeance will be yours in time." the king said. "But first, we must address a more pressing matter. As long as these immortal beings of light are free, the full extent of our power cannot be achieved. They pose a very clear and present threat."

"Why not kill them, my king?"

A low, grinding chuckle. "Still so much to learn. You will see soon enough, Kylo Ren."

So the dark prince drove them one and all into the sea for his master, a master who, at times, took more delight in his servant's suffering than the sparkling prisoners trapped in the ocean waves.

 _All but one._

When entering her forest, Kylo Ren could not have known what destiny awaited him there. He and his knights tracked the lovely creature to an open meadow, though she was not to be captured. She bested his knights, nearly dispatching three of them into the afterlife, and he was forced to pursue her alone.

Snow fell around them in the height of spring as they clashed, sword and horn unrelenting, sparks flying as the stars above watched on. She fought as fiercely as did he and in the end she overcame him, damaging his helm and cutting a burning scar down his face with her horn. Yet her victory was not due to his lack of skill, but the stirring of reverence in his heart. How could he capture such a creature? This one... this one was _different._

And that was how he left her, triumphant and free in her wood, never to be driven into the sea, never to suffer at the whims of his master, unknown to the world beyond her forest.

 _A secret_ , his mind whispered. _My secret._

In the coming years thereafter he never thought to question why she was the last. A proud and defiant creature willing to kill—he had no doubts as to why she remained unconquered. He came to treasure the memory of their battle in the quiet moments away from King Snoke's eyes. Her ferocity, her quickness, the shine of her silhouette in the darkness.

But none could have foretold the conniving minds of the Fates and their tangled tapestry of possibilities. They foresaw a quickening, a weary creature roused in the night, called to the road of Man... and a fateful contest of enemies.

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 **THANKS FOR READING!**


	2. Chapter I: Figments of Desire

**SONG INSPIRATION:** The Last of Her Kind - Peter Gundry **/o/** Ritual - Hexperos

 **CHAPTER WARNINGS:** described execution, physical abuse, emotional manipulation, profanity, sexy dreams & masturbation tease

 **A/N:** This story is such a 1980s Gothic twist on the original tale. With plenty of teasing and slow burn smut, of course. _You're welcome._ Oh and just for the sake of satisfying my own whims, all the men will have long pretty hair. Except Snoke, obviously.

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 _"So I ask you once and I ask you again,_  
 _Where do your roots start and where do your roots end?"_

\- Roots / In This Moment

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 **SPELLBOUND**

 **CHAPTER I: FIGMENTS OF DESIRE**

 **~ - . O . - ~**

 _10 YEARS LATER_

 **o ~ o**

 _Her legs pumped wildly beneath her and her lungs ached with exhilaration as wind whistled passed, throwing about her ivory mane like a banner._ _Over serrated rocks and scorched earth she hastened, the colorless sun above her trapped behind a poisonous band of smog hung low in the sky. And there, nestled upon the jagged horizon_ _—_ _a waxing crescent._

 _It manifested through the gloom, growing round and pregnant as the Mother Goddess._

 _A_ _n immediate and pressing need drove her to look straight ahead, seeking something. It thrummed through her veins like the catch of fire and she felt her heart leap in anticipation._

 _Yonder through the cut of a sharp ravine, she could see the churning tides of an ocean surrounding what appeared to be a dark castle._ _It squatted at the sheer cliff edge like a petulant gargoyle. Colossal_ _walls, black, spiny towers reaching ever skyward, countless bodies glistening white with heavy armor and a blood-colored standard at their back, draped over the rough stone entrance._

 _She felt drawn, but not to the castle. No. Something off to the right._

 _A figure standing at a sharp bend in the cliff._ _He was turned away, facing the sea._ _Her chest swelled at the sight of him._

I know him _, she thought._

 _She quickened her speed, realizing faintly that the cadence of her gallop felt strange and the angle of her body was wrong. She wondered at these abnormalities, eyes drifting downward to_ _—_

 _The ground suddenly convulsed violently and split open beneath her with a low, terrifying roar. Skeletons of trees tipped into the chasm and rocks rolled beneath her. The world dipped, swayed and she leaped, never once taking her eyes off of the lone figure. Her muscles coiled and stretched, burning with exertion as she sailed across the precipice._

 _He turned in that instant, a flurry of cimmerian shadows cut into the smooth lines of a cape and a tall, regal body_ _._ _Her heart stilled in her chest as she studied him._ _That pale face, those velvet eyes. They were as dark as the rest of him, fathomless, yet so utterly..._ broken _._

 _He was human, but by the gods, what had been done to him?_

 _So caught up in his gaze she was that she neglected to brace herself for a safe landing. The ground greeted her without remorse and she toppled forward, scuffing her chin against the abrasive sand as lightning lit up the sky. Why had her front legs not caught her?_

 _Thunder drummed, a chaotic boom of music resonating up through the earth._

 _She lifted her eyes._

 _The dark figure stood no more than ten paces from her, all his edges abruptly outlined in razor-sharpness. They glinted like serrated glass; whipping, twisting, tangling. Like smoke._

 _He tilted his head inquisitively as she gaped at him, light and shadow casting his expression in harsh angles. She noted the curious pattern of beauty moles that allowed his face a youthfulness his stare lacked._

Who are you? _she almost said aloud, lips forming around the words._

 _He opened his mouth to speak, but his voice was lost over the building storm. His arm lifted, palm up-turned, and her gaze widened as he reached for her. The gesture invited a puzzling hunger deep inside of her, somewhere below her navel that spread up into her chest. It ran so profound and so fierce, she felt her body propel upward without her consent._

 _She reached back_ _—_

 _—_ _and the rational seat of her brain suddenly registered the core reason why her body felt_ wrong _._

 _A human hand, connected to a human arm, connected to a svelte human body. Bare human feet._

Human.

 _At once, prideful anger_ _exploded in her veins and she jerked backward, her expression contorted with outrage. She was no human girl! She was a unicorn!_

A unicorn!

 _Instantly, the dream shattered, a beautiful prism of thousands of colored shards, but not before she saw the ghostly, crooked fingers of a third hand falling over the man's eyes and a fourth grasping his shoulder in a vice-like grip._

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 **o ~ o**

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Rey had dreamed.

 _When was it last she dreamed?_

The eve of the new moon, the night her forest had felt its first winter's kiss.

She looked out over the meadow where she rested, a flock of blackbirds flitting through the tall grass for insects and other food. Overhead, a falcon screeched at a mockingbird swooping down for an attack, the small aggressor hissing its raspy profanities. In the distance, a squirrel teetered irritably at a young bear down near the river splashing around for fish.

Rey surveyed all of this with peaceful eyes, chin high.

It was the night she had chased that demon from her wood, the stygian monster with the fiery sword and his hideous companions. They followed behind him swiftly after their defeat, wounded _—_ a mercy she would not be affording such obscenities again should they step foot into her home—and thankfully taking that awful snow with them.

Only this dream was more visceral, and she had been human. _Human!_

The memory of it boils her blood and she surges up, her cloven hooves beating at the ground and her tail snapping like a whip. The mere thought of her trapped in such a temporary vessel disgusted her. She was a unicorn, an immortal being of sunlight and moonlight, starlight and creation. She was a harbinger of new worlds and old. No human alive could count all the suns and moons she has outlived.

Still, she was wise enough to know the importance of dreams.

And that alone terrified her.

A sound suddenly caught her attention and her ears pricked toward the pine grove at the south end of the meadow. _Barking._

She sniffed at the air. Leather, horse sweat and the territorial musk of dog marking.

 _Hunters!_

The animals acted swiftly, taking to the thicket and huddling in hidden places.

Rey dashed for the treeline without a second thought, the instinct to protect her forest overriding her fear. The low-hanging limbs cut at her face, but she ignored them. Her movements were light and nearly inaudible with the raucous noise of the canines as she skidded down a ravine and circled back through the grove until she was behind them.

Two men, one old and haggard and the other young. Not quite fresh, but still nimble on his feet. Three bloodhounds circled enthusiastically around them and Rey made sure to keep to the thicker trees, watching the troop from between the draping moss of old oak limbs.

"I miss the feel of forests like this." the old man sighed, face bunched up in a happy smile. "Creatures who live in a unicorn's forest learn a little magic of their own in time."

"Unicorns? I thought they were a myth." the younger man scoffed, his russet hair tossing over his shoulder as he turned. His horse whinnied excitedly and he patted its neck. He continued on with an air of unease. "This is a forest like any other, is it not?"

The old man's smile grew. "It is the time of harvest. The last moon of the summer is waning, yet here the tulips and hyacinths are fresh in bloom. Notice not a single flower wilts. And why have the leaves not fallen from the trees? They are yet green." His eyes grew distant with longing. "I tell you there is one unicorn left in the world and, as long as it lives in this forest, we will no game to hunt."

The other man shifted his horse by the reins. "Let us turn around then, hunt somewhere else."

"As you wish, my son."

Rey looked after them, her mind caught in a loop of a single phrase: _one unicorn left in the world_. The gravity of it unsettled her. Such a thing was impossible.

Near the edge of the wood, the old man turned on his horse. "Stay where you are, precious beast!" he shouted. "This is no world for you! Stay in your forest and keep it forever young, keep it protected, and good luck to you, for you are the last!"

 **o ~ o**

 **~ - . O . - ~**

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 **~ - . O . - ~**

 **o ~ o**

A clean slice.

The sword sang in his grip as a man's head smacked against the stone floor of the atrium in a clot of blood and rolled away, a frozen mask of defiance. His own expression remained concealed within an ebony helm of cold, scarred metal. Shoulders were rigid. Lungs forgone of breath. The only evidence of humanness in him was the subtle clenching of his fingers around the hilt of the weapon.

"Let this be a lesson to the rest of you!" a voice asserted from behind him. "You serve under King Snoke. You carry the First Order banner! Carry it with pride for your king!"

General Armitage Hux, leader of the First Order's army, bastard son of Brendol Hux and ever present thorn in his royal backside.

 _And... rumor has it, a son who plotted the successful murder of his very father._ The dark figure cut his eyes back at his rival, glare hidden beneath the helm's visor. It was a commonality both shared, he supposed, but regardless a thing he did not wish to hold in common with such a vile cur.

Sheathing his sword he turned to leave, a sea of down-turned faces parting for him. Hazy moonlight shone through the glass of the atrium ceiling, casting the world around him in a milky radiance. His heavy boots thumped with an icy finality as he made his way down the steps to the sprawling entrance hall.

"I've some things I desire to discuss with you, Lord Ren." the general said as he walked up beside him, his insufferable ginger hair tied back in a low ponytail.

Kylo kept his face forward, the moon's rays playing off the silver lines of his helm. "I'm afraid it will have to wait, general. I've more pressing matters."

A sneer ghosted across the general's face, though not fast enough for Kylo to miss. He wondered at it, aggravation flaring in him.

"Ah yes, the king desires audience with you." Hux spoke quietly, as if uttering a secret. "Such a pity to hear of your failure to capture the Hosnian colonies."

"I saw no need for useless death." Kylo all but snapped. "What good is a kingdom if there are no people left to rule?"

Why was he arguing straightforward practicalities with this warmonger? The only _honor_ this man knew was the poisoned tip of a clandestine blade driven into the back of an unsuspecting opponent.

"Rebel scum." the general replied simply.

Kylo whirled on him abruptly and used his few inches of height advantage to tower over him. "Should I alert our king to your failure of maintaining Niima Outpost, which inevitably aided in my failure of the Hosnian colonies? It would only be prudent, wouldn't you agree, general?"

Hux's mouth snapped shut, blue eyes flaring... and quickly dying.

 _Let him think on that_ , Kylo mused. _Let him remember that one who holds another's secrets holds more power than any army._

Kylo left him with the sweep of his long cape, the other man glowering hatefully at his back.

He moved through the courtyard, over the causeway of the river circling his king's castle and finally up through the twisted, leaning tower to his master's chamber. It was massive, reaching up into the roiling sky with fellow spires like so many gnarled talons seeking to strangle the unseen stars above.

Lightning struck one of the spires in a brilliant flash of light as Kylo passed a tall arch-shaped window, the explosion of radiance casting his shadow as a tattered wraith on the opposite wall. It hurried with him, angled forward in a predatory lope.

Two sentinels stood at the end of the corridor, each at either side of solid, intricately cut double doors. They were spindly gatherings of stick limbs draped in plume-colored robes with three round yellow eyes, one grand eye set above a pair of smaller eyes, which glowed from a black hollow where their faces should have been. Their hoods dragged over their shoulders like sagging jowls and a frightening arrangement of mandibles protruded down below their thin necks. All shiny bone and teeth.

Kylo stared at them. Waited.

The left sentinel reached out, exposing her gaunt wrist, her knotted three-fingered hand. Then, the other followed.

The massive doors swung open with a seductive whine and a bellow of smoke-sweet air wafted passed him. Opium incense. He inhaled it deeply as it permeated up through his helm, making him suddenly heady with animal rancor.

Lighting struck again, electrifying the air.

He promptly steadied himself, scarcely lifting his shoulders as he took in another breath, drawing all the primal impulses back into his lower consciousness. Shackling them there.

Presently, the right sentinel waved him onward, her silk robes hissing with the movement.

Kylo proceeded forward in his wide gait, suppressing the urge to shiver as he crossed the threshold and stepped into the chamber. The room felt cold, but not as one would expect. This cold was not a frigid gust or a winter's chill. This kind of cold sapped the spirit, much how a vampire drinks the blood of a mortal. There were times Kylo even felt the room seem to expand, growing fat on his soul essence... _like a leech._

His boots drummed tonelessly on the black marble floor as he approached the throne. He knelt twenty paces away, never once glancing up at the silhouette ahead of him.

"Your blade is still wet, my apprentice." a basso voice murmured. "I can smell it."

Kylo remained silent.

The room grew colder.

He was abruptly reminded of the dream which had haunted him for the past month. Snow in the middle of spring. A battle. A loss.

The scar along his face itched and he hastily squashed the train of thought, draping the recent images of the execution over his consciousness.

"You did not desire to kill such a fine soldier." the voice continued, but there had been a pause. Even in the silence, Kylo had sensed it.

"It is the unfortunate consequence of ruling. One must uphold the balance of order from those who would see chaos reign. The system must be protected against _any_ who would see it destroyed."

Kylo's head bowed lower in answer.

Another long pause.

The rustle of rough fabric.

Kylo felt the silhouette rise, felt the room ripple with his master's movements, and he held perfectly still.

"Your lack of hesitation in this instance would have served me better with the Hosnian colonies." The voice moved closer with each word until it was directly over him. "Remnants of the Republic have no place in my realm, Kylo Ren."

"Begging forgiveness, master. I thought only of your rule." Kylo whispered carefully.

"Did you, my apprentice?"

Kylo's fingers curled in on themselves, the material of his gloves squeezing against his skin. "You know I cannot conceal a lie from you, master."

Phantom fingertips needled along the back of his neck, testing him. _Cold. So cold._

"Yes," Snoke purred. "So speak not with a liar's tongue."

The needling fingers nestled at the nape of his neck just below the base of his skull.

Kylo couldn't retain a shudder. He dared not look up to see if the king were actually touching him. He dared not move.

Snoke prolonged the silence, before at last, he spoke. "Why did you fail?"

Kylo considered his response delicately. The question was a trap, a _deadly_ trap with countless pitfalls. Even his hesitation could betray him. Was there any answer that could be his escape?

"Master, I thought only of your realm, of our efforts to bring order. There are individuals within the Hosnian colonies that are trusted, beloved by the people. The Resistance is gaining ground in the far north. I felt it unwise to kill ones who could become allies... with the correct amount of pressure applied."

It was the truth, though told with much less compassion than Kylo felt. He could never utter this to Snoke and, by the gods, he hoped his master did not feel it kindling deep in the chambers of his heart. As desperately as he had tried to snuff out this emotion, it only seemed to grow beneath his shadows, sprouting veins, attaching in inconvenient places and holding fast.

Kylo felt the sudden pressure of a real hand resting on the crown of his helm. "Young fool. Young stupid, arrogant fool."

His muscles froze, anticipating the next set of events.

"And here I thought you had more prowess than that."

The words stung.

Snoke's hand drifted along Kylo's helm until his long fingers curled under Kylo's chin, drawing his face upward.

Nothing could hide his gaze from his master's in that moment. He was laid bare.

Sinister power radiated from those twisted fingers. "No amount of pressure can make them bend to our favor."

Kylo felt a lesson at the end of this conversation and it was closing fast.

"They are feral animals delighting in their democracy. Democracy brings chaos. You know this, _Kylo Ren_." Snoke all but snarled his name.

Kylo swallowed.

The silence grew painful now.

"The real reason behind your failure couldn't have been because of your mother, could it?"

Kylo's extremities went numb and it took everything in his power to keep his breathing steady. He desired to contest his master, but the air around him warned such a thing would be unwise.

"She was with the Hosnian leaders the day of your attack, was she not?"

This question he must answer.

"Yes." He drained all emotion from his voice, keeping his chin steady in the cradle of Snoke's fingers.

The darkness of the room shifted then, the light of an overhead chandelier brightening, illuminating his master in a sickly yellow glow. Shadow still clung to the deep seams of his face, scars and withered flesh bunched together in an expression of pure cunning. The deep hollows of his eyes reflected like mirrors out to Kylo, beckoning him and he resisted the urge to avert his gaze.

Snoke would feel it.

"Why is she not dead, my apprentice?"

Kylo's shoulders exposed him and he pushed ahead quickly. "An unforeseen anomaly, master. I captured a spy. The rumors are true. Luke Skywalker was witnessed—

A shock of agony whipped up Kylo's spine with an abrupt snap and he crumpled, muscles seizing. He would have fallen to the floor if not for Snoke's steel grip under his helm. He bit savagely into his lower lip, panting raggedly.

"Should I believe you still harbor emotions for the woman who brought you into this world?" Snoke inquired dispassionately, pale eyes glinting.

 _Like silver-plated glass_ , Kylo thought offhandedly.

"Should I suspect, Kylo Ren, that your heart will betray me?"

"Never." Kylo wheezed, his usually dulcet tone strangled into a rasping growl.

"Perhaps that is why you executed the _Rebel spy_ so quickly." Snoke surmised. "You sought to dampen my suspicions."

Blood sapped from Kylo's face.

 _He knew! Of course he knew._

Kylo opened his mouth to speak, but a ball of barbs manifested in his throat, poking and grating at his flesh. He choked; tasted blood.

"And yet, you desired to let the soldier live. Your actions are concerning."

The sensation tripled, ripping at his esophagus like a wild demon.

"Doubly concerning is General Hux's apparent ignorance on the matter." Snoke sighed. "All the same, I would suggest, my young apprentice, you not rouse my suspicions further."

"Yes." The word left Kylo's mouth a muddled groan and Snoke dropped his hand.

Kylo fell to the marble floor in a gulping heap, the cluster of thorns no longer blocking his throat, but his flesh raw all the same. He swallowed the blood, letting the coolness of the air ease a little of the pain.

"I have offered you much, Kylo Ren. You would be irresponsible to betray me." Snoke paused. "After all, is it not I who have trusted you? Is it not I who accepted your talents as exactly what they are—talents?"

Kylo lifted back into his kneeling position.

"Is this how you reward my generosity? With suspicion?"

"Twas never my intention, master." Kylo replied huskily. "Please, forgive me."

Snoke was silent as thunder roared around them. It rolled into the distance like turbulent war drums.

Then, he placed a gentle hand on Kylo's shoulder. "Your heart is still true." he whispered, a hidden smile on his face.

 **.**

 **o ~ o**

 **.**

 _Hands curled around his neck from behind him. Lips soft._

 _He turned, but no one was there._

 _"My dark prince." a voice hummed against his ear. "I don't want to remember it. Any of it."_

 _He leaned into the warm softness of an embrace, svelte arms trapping him in the scent of spring._

 _"Everything dies." the voice came again, a moist press of a mouth along his shoulder._

 _He reached for those arms, snaking his hands up into wild flowing hair. Like spun silk._

 _Fingertips whispered across_ _the nape of his neck as his own locks was swept aside. A tender kiss._

 _"I want to die when you die."_

Kylo awoke with a start, a sheen of sweat covering his bare skin. He kicked the blankets aside and rose with a sharp exhale of breath, strands of ebony hair plastered to his forehead.

His chamber window revealed a squall of brutal winds and heavy rain. Violent drops pelted the windowpane before cascading downward in blurred, cumbersome sheets.

He ran an aggravated hand through his hair, tangling it further.

Usually after these dreams he would mount his horse and ride until sunrise, until the scent of her was gone with the night and the chill had cooled his loins, but this night the hard ache of his cock taunted him and the booming thunder dared him to seek release. Its echoes made him think of untamed moments between the trees, a glint of moonlight hair, a tease of supple skin.

 _What did it matter?_ his mind snarled. This woman inhabiting his dreams was not real. _She was a fallacy! A figment of my desires and nothing more!_

Something tickled his skin along the line of his scar, up from his chest, following the dark mark to his cheek. He closed his eyes and saw long, lovely legs. They moved with the grace of a gazelle as she ran, darting through the grove. Naked. Carefree.

She was like a dance of pure light.

A moan escaped his lips as he felt his hand close unconsciously around his length, pumping once, twice.

He was thrown back into a strange world of snow and spring flowers, colors so rich they hurt his eyes and a sky so vast with stars he could only think himself lost in a sea of diamonds. She lay in a bed of grass just beyond his reach. He tried to focus on her, but she was surrounded by a spectral mist.

He reached with his mind, wanting to see her. _Needing to see her._

A growl ripped from his throat as he pumped a third time, _hard_ , and he abruptly jerked his hand away, punching the wall beside him. Rage and frustration surged up from the pit of his stomach and he pulled his knuckles back, staring at the broken flesh.

 _Distractions._ That was all these dreams were. Fantasies he dwelled upon in the lonely hours of the night. They were unnecessary. More than that, they were fast becoming a liability. His goal could not be hindered by such capricious impulses.

Presently, the memory of the harpy stalked into his foremind, her forest eyes glinting devilishly at him as she sat atop her stone perch, tanned skin warm with sunlight and chestnut hair spilling over her shoulders.

 _"A pity she will taste you and not I."_ she murmured, much as she did the day she changed his life forever.

Kylo forced his hands to his sides, glaring back out the window. Making up his mind, he dressed quickly and proceeded down to the stables. The rain clinked off the metal of his helm, the wind whipped his cape and lightning blanketed the sky in a deadly web of white fire. His ride waited at the end of the stables, a wild steed who carried more than a little hint of madness in its eyes. Kylo approached him calmly, pausing as the beast threw his head about, dancing erratically and flaring his nostrils.

 _The storm summoned his rage, too._

Kylo smirked at that.

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 **THANKS FOR READING!**


	3. Chapter II: Time Began in a Garden

**SONG INSPIRATION:** From Nowhere - Adam Hurst & .Goetia. - Peter Gundry

 **CHAPTER WARNINGS:** general warnings & emotional manipulation

 **A/N:** Thanks for all the support!

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 _"My roots, my roots run deep into the hollow."_

\- Roots / In This Moment

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 **SPELLBOUND**

 **CHAPTER II: TIME BEGAN IN A GARDEN**

 **~ - . O . - ~**

 _The last?_ What an absurd notion. She could not possibly be the last.

Cool stream water flowed around her up to her hindquarters and she tossed her wet mane from her face. Despite the chilly mornings, she found easy delight bathing in the meadow spring that seeped from the crooked nest of rocks to the north.

A sleepy-eyed owl passed in front of her, swooping up into his roost for the day.

 _What would humans know?_ she thought. They were impractical beings prone to desperate passion and crippled by the inevitable refusal of their own mortality. But most of all, their hearts were readily corruptible. Superstition and fear drove them.

Yet, the memory of the black demon surfaced in her mind, taunting her.

How long had it been since she had seen her own kind, or spoken to them? The answer left an ache in her chest so painful she winced. _She could not recall._

A distant memory of musical laughter ebbed in her heart; then it was gone, a brief phantom. Sorrow hung her head low, the cool water swirling around her partially submerged muzzle. Her lips opened to drink, swallowing the chilly water down a constricted throat. Proud as she was, loneliness wore on even the fiercest of creatures.

But she did not weep. Unicorns never wept.

Long ago, she had counted the moons waiting for them, but after a time, those endless moons had all faded into a single moon, a forsaken satellite in a bed of cold, violet satin. Though she would never voice it aloud, she had come to feel left behind, forgotten. She yearned to see faces she herself had unremembered. They danced just out of her mind's eye.

 _If she were indeed the last, then..._

The thought terrified her and she shoved it viciously away. Just because no human had witnessed a unicorn in many moons did not mean they had all vanished. Unicorns did not simply vanish. They could be hunted, trapped; unicorns could even be killed if they left their forests, but they did not vanish.

She tossed her head again and trotted out onto the bank. Water glittered from her body as she shook it away, the sun breasting the far hills and sending shafts of yellow light over her meadow.

Memory continued to taunt her, the black demon advancing, his expressionless helm glaring at her without eyes.

Rey shivered.

 **.**

 **o ~ o**

 **.**

 _She stood in a sprawling courtyard, strange blackish vines choking the crumbling walls with ruby blooms adorning their coils. Gangly wolves lurked in the advancing shadows, their festering yellow eyes sharp with malice. Statues that might have once stood with dignity now cowered with decay, their once ivory faces eroded beneath a shroud of viral mold._

 _Glancing down at her cloven hooves, she expressed a sigh of relief._ Not human. _That, at the very least, was one relief._

 _In the center of the courtyard was placed a large sundial. It stretched more than three meters in diameter with the gnomon's shadow cast to the morning side, piercing through the roman numeral VIII._ _She moved closer, intrigued. Something about the object pulled at her, begged her closer._ _Written within the dial were the ancient words 'Time began in a Garden.'_

 _She read them aloud in their dead tongue, her voice carrying over the stillness like a breath of life. The world stirred, inhaled deeply, exhaled and fell silent again._

 _Yellow eyes moved closer, teeth glittering._

 _Her gaze ticked up, studying the empty sky. No clouds, no stars, only a rich night darkness and, flying in the face of normality, a vibrant rising sun to the south. It cast its warm glow along the tops of the twisting spires as they dripped with sparkling moisture. Beyond the brightness she squinted, thinking for a moment she saw a small round body behind the sun. Rings. Maybe another body, blue like water. And a third... red like blood._

 _She glanced back to the sundial and her heart squeezed abruptly with panic. The shadow of the gnomon was moving backwards. Her head jerked to the south, seeking the sun again, but it was gone. Her heart scrambled into her throat as she saw what had taken its place._

Him.

 _Behind his figure the toothed mountains tore into the twilight with violent color, hues of purple and gold, splashes of red, and the planets she had noted earlier came into full view._ _His cape shuddered with the desert sand, the gaunt trees around him demanding his soul like beckoning reapers and the brilliance of the morning rise casting his silhouette in soft angelic light. It seemed as if the planets stood in alignment with him. Waiting._

So far away _, she thought._ So... unfair.

 _He stared at her from across that unfair distance, openly wanton, and she quivered as an odd sensation gathered in the pit of her stomach. It unfurled, suffusing her blood with a pleasant heat and her legs danced under her, all at once restless with..._ something _._

 _He reached out, much as he did in the dream before, though this time his words carried to her. "Join me."_

 _Her breath hitched._

 _"Join me." he repeated._

 _A part of her wavered toward him and she felt tears coursing down her cheeks._ Unicorns did not weep. _The tears were human; hot and wet and human._

 _Fear shot through her like a charged bolt of lightning and far-off on the horizon she heard the roll of thunder._

 _"Please." he beseeched her._

 _She resisted the overwhelming urge to go to him, planting her hooves harshly on the uneven stone and straightening her posture, head high._ Gods, this feeling... _It seemed to well up from some secret depth inside of her and touch her with utter madness. It was a desperate sort of yearning,_ _a want so profound her mind ran hot with a single word. Mine._

Rey came awake slowly, lashes fluttering.

Elsewhere near the sea a man woke from his own dreams, a single feverish word departing his lips.

"Please."

 **.**

 **o ~ o**

 **.**

The days would soon grow short, but her forest would remain green... so she believed.

Autumn scents rode on the air blown in from the north and the winter storms gathered like soft, spun metropolises in the sky, lavish towers of pink and gold, ribbons of slate blue manifesting like serpents and overtaking those cities. Darkening them.

Lightning. _Thunder._

It was noontide when the hummingbird entered her wood. He flew on a calm breeze, unimpeded, almost drunken in his aimlessness. She did not know it then, but this stranger would be the harbinger of a journey she never expected. She would find adventure, awakening, treachery and _tears_.

In time, she would grow to hate this benevolent fellow, but she would grow to hate herself more so.

She cantered up to him, swishing her tail flippantly.

The miniature fowl donned the colors of ending summer: burnt reds, sleepy browns and a chest of predawn blue. He buzzed on the wind, swinging around the unicorn to her left. She nodded amiably, greeting him.

"Welcome, hummingbird!" she chimed. "I am Rey. Have you traveled far?"

"I'm not quite sure." the creature remarked distractedly as he flitted about seemingly unaware she had introduced herself at all.

She tilted her head. "What is your name?"

He hovered over a bundle of hyacinth blooms near her. "My name? Well I..." he paused, landed on a neighboring stem and looked up to her with glassy little eyes.

He appeared so old in that moment, a fragile thing the wind had carried into her forest with no real concern other than to be rid of him. _He was forgotten._ The confirming whisper in her mind of that fact sent an instant spear through her heart. She saw his age now, snowy edges of gray at the tips of of his feathers over his eyes, down around his beak, the crag of near invisible wrinkles as he squinted in thought.

"I do not remember." he finally said.

That was not the answer she was looking for.

Rey pinned her ears back impatiently at his bewilderment. "How does a hummingbird not recall his own name?"

"I was supposed to be somewhere else." he declared. "Though, I have not the faintest idea where."

"Then where did you come from?" she tried, extracting the petulance from her tone.

This creature did not deserve the brunt of her frustrations. But he had traveled, had seen the world beyond her forest. If he could tell her what had happened—if anything had indeed happened—to the other unicorns, perhaps it would help her decision.

Her spine turned to ice. _Had she already come to a decision? So quickly?_ The thought of leaving played along that cord of ice, winding round her vertebrae like a snake and she shuddered, fear gathering as a great and terrible stone in her belly.

His head darted once right, then left, then back to her. "A garden."

And the world stopped.

"Gar-garden?" she sputtered.

The bird's stare suddenly grew alight, excited with memory. "I know not who I was, but I do know I am not myself. I know not where I came from, only that I am supposed to be here."

Rey stared at him, bewilderment now overtaking _her_.

"I know you." he continued. "Even if I were blind I would know you, great light-bringer. You are the last, but not if you can save the others. You must go to the garden by the sea. _The garden._ "

He took flight abruptly, danced uneasily now as his beady eyes flashed.

Rey gulped at air, hissing breathlessly. "The unicorns. They _are_ in danger."

"The garden." he repeated.

"Where?" she demanded.

"Follow the star, Alshain. Follow it to its end and you will find your garden. You will find your sea."

Her breaths came in bursts and her head felt distant from her body. She saw the sundial, the coiling vines with their bloody blooms, the wolves... and him.

"What is your name?" Rey asked one final time. "Please tell me your name."

"I think... Tekka." he whispered and flitted away into the unknown.

 **.**

 **o ~ o**

 **.**

A dream. _No._ A nightmare.

 _He_ had not been waiting for her this time. In his place had been a pale monstrosity of gold and gnarled flesh. At this monstrosity's feet had knelt the black demon, helmet gleaming with a distant pinkish light and bright sword bathed in gore.

She stood now at the edge of her forest, awake and looking over the open plains while the grass rolled in waves, while the trees rocked drowsily and the midnight sky blinked on uncaring of the world below it.

Her eyes centered on a single star. _Alshain._ Then, down to the man-made road coiling below that star.

She took her first step and did not look back.

 **o ~ o**

 **~ - . O . - ~**

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 **~ - . O . - ~**

 **o ~ o**

The prisoner was gone. _Gone!_

Kylo Ren prowled the halls, sword hand quaking. The morning light poured in from the tall windows, pale and flat as he turned a corner and descended a set of stairs. Guards were quick to give him a wide berth, their faces downcast.

He bit back a snarl as he passed down another stone stairway. Allowing Hux to _handle_ this situation and letting his men question the prisoner instead of Kylo doing it himself had turned into a disastrous mistake. Unsurprisingly. Despite the persuasive tactics Hux's men used, the bastard had kept his lips sealed. That should not surprise Kylo, either. His mother had sent this man to retrieve the letter after all and she was not one to make decisions lightly. The man was chosen for this exact reason.

 _Clever mother_ , he murmured inwardly. _Though, still in vain, I'm afraid. When_ I _find him, he will sing._

At the end of the corridor, the very red-headed cur he wanted to drive his sword through appeared, all smooth silk and quick, uneven steps. He was nervous, Kylo realized. He should be.

"General Hux," he snarled—no need for veiled enmity at this ungodly hour.

The man straightened his spine, puffing out his chest as he approached. "Lord Ren. I would spare a moment to speak with you, but—

"But you seem to have lost my prisoner." Kylo interjected flatly. "Your soldiers are quite skilled at incompetence."

"How dare you!" Hux exclaimed, coming full stop. "My men are exceptionally skilled, trained from infancy!"

Kylo clicked his tongue impatiently, the sound lost under his helm. "Yes. You boast often of such diminutive facets, and yet my prisoner is missing."

"He will be found!" Hux defended angrily, all evidence of his usually artful guise lost.

Kylo grinned malevolently, savoring his rival's unease. "Before his capture, the prisoner had stowed away a very important item, a letter from Luke Skywalker meant for his sister, Leia Organa."

Hux retained most of his composure, but he could not conceal the slight widening of his eyes.

"Now, because of one of _your_ men, King Snoke has lost the first opportunity in a decade to track down our most perilous threat." Kylo continued. "So, for your sake, I suggest you handle this matter yourself and get both that prisoner and that letter before the Resistance does." He paused, looking Hux from head to toe with an exaggerated and measured slowness. "Unless, of course, your capacity for incompetence matches that of your men."

Hux's mouth twisted rancorously. "Do not pretend this excludes your own personal interest." He gave his equal pause, teeth flashing in a cat-like grin. "Be mindful, Ren, lest Snoke's suspicions over the Hosnian colonies be roused again."

Rage ignited in Kylo's chest at the man's insinuation, spreading like wildfire. How dare he allude such a thing. His mother was the enemy, but she was also not the entire Resistance. And if this imbecile thought he would aid his uncle in any fashion, he would quickly find how wrong his thoughts were. His uncle would die by his hand before the end of this war. He would die and his blood would stain the steel of his sword. Of that, Kylo was certain.

He advanced on Hux, invading what little personal space the man had left. His helm glinted in the glow of the torches, cold and expressionless. "If I were you, general, I would be more concerned with my own welfare."

 **.**

 **o ~ o**

 **.**

Damn the gods if he did not dream for the second time that night.

He kicked his feet off the bed, tossed his blankets aside and rested his head in his hands. The lax ponytail in which he had tied his hair had fallen loose with his restless tossing and it now slipped around his shoulders, tangled and erratic. He smoothed his hand through it, catching his fingers which caused a grimace.

 _Damn the gods,_ he thought again. Damn this bizarre fantasy his mind had fabricated and damn those long, beautiful legs; those lips. _Like flower petals_ , he remembered. She had spoken to him and he had watched her mouth, eyes hypnotized as her tongue had darted out to wet them.

 _"You are wicked."_

 _"Yes,"_ he had said. _"Yes I am."_

 _"And you are mine."_ the lips had smiled.

He jerked to his feet, feeling the intense pull of the words like an inevitable allure which drew him deeper, deeper... _deeper._

"Are you real?" he asked the empty room.

Silence.

He exhaled a breath he did not realize he had been holding and answered himself bitterly. "No."

Waves crashed into the rocks below, rattling through the castle walls like laughter. Kylo grinned cynically at the sound. One could call it the low cackling of the Fates, sadistic voyeurs who sat upon their plush clouds weaving their cursed tapestry with spiteful fingers.

He dressed slowly, donning his helmet with heavy hands. Where was he going to pass the sleepless time now? To ride as he usually did? The thought of racing along the sharp cliff overlooking the ocean was a bitter taste in his mouth and he knew that tonight it would not be enough.

 _"Kylo Ren."_

Snoke's eerie whisper set his teeth on edge and his hands faltered.

 _"Come."_

The command lingered over his nerve-endings like a baneful chill, but the presence was already gone. Apparently, how he would spend the rest of his sleepless night had already been chosen for him.

A short time later he entered the throne room passed the grim sentinels, their three-eyed stare melting over him like a feverish disease. He suppressed a shudder and walked confidently into the chamber. Snoke, however, was not fooled.

"My apprentice is troubled." came the basso voice, echoing through the room.

 _Of course, he wasn't fooled._

Kylo bowed low. "Our prisoner has escaped. The general wastes time with his men. My knights and I should be—

"You know of what I speak, Kylo Ren." The warning in his tone brooked no argument and Kylo's fists clenched.

He took a breath, and another... and another. When he spoke, his whisper boomed in his own ears. "Only shallow thirsts, my king. Nothing more."

"You have not sought counsel over these matters." Snoke declared softly, a blade in silk. His pause made Kylo's hair stand on end, which his master seemed to relish before continuing, "and you have not visited your grandfather's sepulcer in many a fortnight. Should I be concerned, my apprentice?"

 _Here it was._

Kylo felt naked as he always had in his master's presence, but this time was much more perilous. He must tread carefully.

Did his master believe he had set the prisoner free? At this point, Kylo Ren would not be shocked by such an allegation. But Snoke must see into his mind; he must know that Kylo desired Luke's death as equally as the Resistance.

 _Was this the only thing which stayed his hand,_ Kylo wondered, a seed of fear taking root in his chest.

"I grow weary, master." Kylo murmured, tilting his head up to face him. Through the helm, Kylo sensed Snoke's unseen eyes burning into his flesh.

The darkness moved, then stilled. The smell of poppy incense surrounded him and something else, something rancid.

"Yes, Kylo Ren, I am aware. Though, I dare to wonder why you have not sought my counsel over these matters sooner." The voice moved behind him, circling him.

Kylo controlled his heartbeat; kept his shoulders relaxed. Avoiding his master's keen perception would be too dangerous. Truth was his only ally here, but there were many truths and only one need be revealed now, though it soured his tongue to even consider uttering it aloud.

"I wished not to displease my master with such trivialities."

 _Weakness,_ the words said. _Doubt_. They betrayed him like some flagrant jester bouncing about the room, teetering manically as he prattled away Kylo's secrets, all the while juggling tomatoes meant for Kylo's reddening face.

He grit his teeth, the cold metal of his helm bringing a sliver of comfort to his pride, though only a sliver.

Snoke appeared to consider Kylo's confession, his ruined visage ghastly in the pink light of lit candles on the altar near his throne. Kylo fixated on the altar.

It was approximately three meters long, a meter wide, rudimentary in shape and disconcerting to look at. Esoteric cuneiform was etched along its ancient surface in long divided lines, which were interrupted by a single symbol in equal intervals—a serpent surrounding an open, glaring eye.

He abruptly ripped his gaze away, realizing he had begun to stare. Staring at the symbol too long did strange things to a person's mind, or so the rumors went.

"Your fear haunts you, but what I have taught you—has it not made you stronger?" Snoke finally asked, his tone uncharacteristically gentle.

"It has." Kylo replied after a moment.

"And have I not given you the means to pursue your vengeance? Have I not given you a great power in which to use against those who have wronged you?"

Kylo closed his eyes, shame curling through his gut. "You have."

"My apprentice has never lied to me. I know I can trust him," Snoke continued, softer now, "yet, he does not trust _me_ with his trivialities?"

The shame grew, eating at Kylo. Snoke was wrong. He had lied once, many years ago. And he would do it again without hesitation. That alone terrified him.

He hastily shoved those thoughts away.

"Forgive me, master." he said, his tongue a cumbersome weight in his mouth.

Snoke smiled. "All is forgiven, my good and faithful apprentice. Now, let us discuss more pressing matters."

 **.**

 **o ~ o**

 **.**

Dawn broke out in a conflagration of gold across the sky, contrasting brilliantly with the previous week's stormy-gray. Kylo sat atop his stallion in full armor with his sword sheathed at his back and his knights fanned out at his sides. They gleamed in equal tones of black and silver, their weapons also strapped and sheathed at their backs. Ahead of them, the drawbridge lay open to reveal a world of gossamer fog which glowed with the coming sunlight.

The scene was eerie in its beauty, touching Kylo in a deep, hidden place. His chest shivered and he averted his eyes, rattled by the sudden sense of prescience that overwhelmed him.

 _You are mine..._

He shook his head, a single sharp jerk, which to most appeared as if he were merely surveying his knights. He would be the only one. No other dared to even glance at them.

They sat silently on their mounts, a macabre collection of grisly angles and tattered edges; their helmets pointed to the open road from the castle and their fists resting idly on the horns of their saddles. Their horses pawed at the ground tempestuously, each one as black as pitch and with eyes like death. _His_ knights, blessed by the dark sorcery taught to him by his king.

Skywalker would be appalled to know what became of his pupils.

Taking a moment, Kylo savored the idea of happening upon the old man with his knights and striking him down. What an expression would be on his uncle's face. _What a sight!_ Unfortunately, the daydream ended as he was all too quickly drawn to the sour face glaring at him from the drawbridge entrance. Not a face he cared to contemplate.

General Hux stood with a small group of men, his attire slightly askew—a peculiarity Kylo found instantly delightful—and his cheeks a mottled red. Kylo measured him with a sideways glance that to any other would have been invisible, but not to Armitage Hux. The man's lips pressed into a thin, bloodless line.

"General." Kylo intoned, approaching him.

He swallowed a grimace, blue eyes blazing. "Lord Ren."

Snoke's and Kylo's discussion the previous night had detailed the recovery of the lost prisoner and Hux's now limited involvement. Kylo was to take his knights, pursue the prisoner and the traitor who assisted him, and bring them _both_ back. Snoke was explicit; the traitor was to be taken alive. Once they returned, he was to be made an example of before all of the First Order.

For general Hux, this was to be a time of reflection and reevaluation. The loyalty of his troops needed testing and he was just the man to do it.

"See that this does not happen again." Kylo remarked dispassionately. "I doubt Snoke will be as forgiving the next time."

Red cheeks flared redder. "See that you recover our only link to Skywalker. I would hate to see our king lose that link for good."

The threat hung blatant in the air.

In his absence, Hux would whisper to the good king, wondering on the capability of his dutiful apprentice. Snoke would never hear such claims, of course. He knew the value of Kylo's abilities as he knew his own. They were both creatures of the old blood. What beat in their breast was the arcane magic and arcane magic was _not_ to be squandered.

Still, this was be an unfortunate development, but one Kylo must allow.

He glared down at Hux, his helm catching rays of morning light. He seriously considered skewering the man with his sword, however, thought better of it at the last second. "The First Order's time grows short. See that no more of it is wasted, general."

Before Hux could reply, Kylo kicked his heels and his stallion reared, thrashing about madly and galloping away into the mist. His knights followed quickly behind him, leaving Hux to scowl after them.

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 **PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW! I LOVE HEARING FEEDBACK!**

 **THANKS FOR READING!**


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